Martell Raeanne N, Daker Richard J, Sokolowski H Moriah, Ansari Daniel, Lyons Ian M
Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20057, USA.
Department of Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W7, Canada.
Psychol Res. 2024 Dec 10;89(1):34. doi: 10.1007/s00426-024-02063-3.
Mathematical and spatial abilities are positively related at both the behavioral and neural levels. Much of the evidence illuminating this relationship comes from classic laboratory-based experimental methods focused on cognitive performance despite most individuals also experiencing math and space in other contexts, such as in conversations or lectures. To broaden our understanding of math-space integration in these more commonplace situations, we used an auditory memory-encoding task with stimuli whose content evoked a range of educational and everyday settings related to math or spatial thinking. We used a multivariate approach to directly assess the extent of neural similarity between activity patterns elicited by these math and spatial stimuli. Results from whole-brain searchlight analysis revealed a highly specific positive relation between math and spatial activity patterns in bilateral anterior hippocampi. Examining individual variation in math-space similarity, we found that greater math-space similarity in bilateral anterior hippocampi was associated with poorer math skills and higher anxiety about math. Integration of neural responses to mathematical and spatial content may not always portend positive outcomes. We suggest that episodic simulation of quotidian contexts may link everyday experiences with math and spatial thinking-and the strength of this link is predictive of math in a manner that diverges from math-space associations derived from more lab-based tasks. On a methodological level, this work points to the value of considering a wider range of experimental paradigms, and of the value of combining multivariate fMRI analysis with behavioral data to better contextualize interpretations of brain data.
数学能力和空间能力在行为和神经层面均呈正相关。揭示这种关系的诸多证据来自基于经典实验室的实验方法，这些方法聚焦于认知表现，尽管大多数人也会在其他情境中体验数学和空间，比如在对话或讲座中。为了拓宽我们对这些更常见情境下数学与空间整合的理解，我们使用了一项听觉记忆编码任务，其刺激内容唤起了一系列与数学或空间思维相关的教育和日常情境。我们采用多变量方法直接评估这些数学和空间刺激所引发的活动模式之间神经相似性的程度。全脑搜索光分析结果显示，双侧前海马体中数学和空间活动模式之间存在高度特定的正相关。在研究数学 - 空间相似性的个体差异时，我们发现双侧前海马体中更大的数学 - 空间相似性与较差的数学技能以及对数学的更高焦虑相关。对数学和空间内容的神经反应整合并不总是预示着积极的结果。我们认为，日常情境的情景模拟可能会将日常经历与数学和空间思维联系起来——而且这种联系的强度以一种不同于源自更多基于实验室任务的数学 - 空间关联的方式预测数学能力。在方法层面，这项工作指出了考虑更广泛实验范式的价值，以及将多变量功能磁共振成像分析与行为数据相结合以更好地将脑数据解释置于情境中的价值。
